The Hauntingly Excellent Range
Richard Thorley
In February 1862, labourer Richard Thorley murdered Eliza Morrow - a woman he was in a casual relationship with - and who lived in a courtyard adjacent to Agard Street, Derby.
Furious with jealousy after seeing her speak to a soldier, Thorley attempted unsuccessfully to confront her at her home, before getting drunk and returning with a razor. Upon his return he found her and slit her throat in the courtyard.
He fled initially to the Spa Inn on Abbey Street, and was arrested soon after on Canal Street. Tried at Derby Assizes, Thorley was found guilty of murder and publicly hanged outside Derby Gaol on 11 April 1862—the last public execution in Derby.
Eliza is buried in an unmarked grave at Nottingham Road Cemetery and Thorley’s ghost is said to haunt the location where the courtyard once stood.
Related places to visit in Derby
LOCATION: Ye Olde Spa Inne, 204 Abbey St, Derby DE22 3SU
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CONNECTION: Ye Olde Spa Inne on Abbey Street was where Richard Thorley fled after committing the murder of Eliza Morrow. Once there, the landlord commented on the blood on Richard's clothes which he explained away by saying he'd been in a gang fight. He ordered a ginger beer whilst there and, when he'd finished his drink, he solemnly shook everybody's hand before leaving.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
LOCATION: Canal Street, Derby​
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CONNECTION: Canal Street was the location of Richard Thorley's arrest by Detective Sergeant Vessey. Richard put up no fight at all and his first words upon arrest were "I can't help it. I've done it now. I'm sorry". Richard's execution drew of crowd of 20,000 people, although the largest crowd to witness an execution was twice that in 1843 when a triple execution took place at Vernon Street Gaol.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
Derby History Walks
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Come and join us for a 90-minute walk full of revelations, curses, deaths, superstitions, evil doers and much more!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
Learn all about Derby's most notorious murders and murderers on Derby's murder walk - not for the faint-hearted!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
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True, but weird, Derby history including frogs falling from the skies, ghouls roaming the town, historic hot dogs, mummified cats & more.
VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
A walk full of tortured spirits who met a grisly end including both the murderers and their victims
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
